Tommy Membrino, Jr. Nets Big Bonus from SK Light Feature Victory at Stafford Speedway
Stafford Springs, CT — For Stafford SK Light competitor Tommy Membrino, Jr., the 2011 season has been a resurgence of sorts for himself and the #00 Membrino Electric team. After winning twice and finishing 6th in the points standings in 2009, the team only raced 9 times in 2010 and finished 22nd in the points standings. But that has all turned around this season as Membrino collected his first win of the 2011 season in grand style last Friday night, taking home a $600 bonus from the Gunsmoke Stables Front Runner Challenge. Combined with his race purse and further contingency bonuses from The Davidson Company and New England Racing Fuel, Membrino took home $1,000 for his winning efforts, a big boost for a team that almost wasn’t going to make it to the track this year.
“Confidence wise that win really helped out,” said Membrino. “August would have been 2 years since our last win and there was a lot of pressure to get that win out of the way. We weren’t even sure that we would be racing this season. We shook the car down during the off-season, but 3 weeks before the Sizzler the car was just a powder coated chassis with the seat in it. We really didn’t have much for sponsors and my dad’s cousin Joe called us up and told us that we were good and to start putting the car together. With out his help from Membrino Electric, we probably wouldn’t be racing this season, so the extra money will help us out. After the year we had last year and not winning since 2009, it really felt good and it was a relief to win. We’re working hard as a team and the car is slowly coming around. Things are starting to come together and we can hopefully win some more races this year.”
Membrino currently sits second in the SK Light points standings, 36 points behind defending track champion Matt Galko. As well as Membrino has run this season, he says that he and his team are still searching to find the right setup combination on his #00 Pontiac.
“We’ve really struggled with the car setup until last week,” said Membrino. “Most of the races we’ve been good in practice and the heat races during the day, but we’ve been struggling with a tight car for the feature when the weather cools down. Last Friday night we figured we’d leave the car where it was and hope it came around for the feature and it did. A lot of the guys right now are good right away where our car seems to take about 10 laps to come in, so we are losing out on the start of the race and if there’s a lot of cautions during the race, it is hurting us. We’re working on the car to where we don’t lose too many spots on the start. If we would start 6th for example, we would fall back to 8th or 9th on the start and have to work hard to gain those spots back. We’re going over our notes to try to get the car to get going sooner.”
Fresh off their first victory of the season, Membrino and his team are looking to build upon that win in the second half of the season and be championship contenders.
“The championship is there on my mind, but it’s not going to affect how we race each week,” said Membrino. “2 weeks ago, we were 14 points behind and we got caught up in a wreck, which left us 44 points behind and now we’re 30-something points behind Matt. That’s a lot of points to have to make up, but after wrecking two weeks ago, it was nice to gather everything back together and come back and win the very next week. I’m really thankful to be racing this year and I have to thank my dad and my uncle for setting the car up and Ed Flemke has also been a big help to us when we need a second opinion on the car. We’d like to win some more races this season and be consistent to try to chip away at Matt’s point lead.”
In racing, momentum can often be a powerful ally and after Membrino’s big win last Friday night, the #00 team may just ride the momentum of that victory all the way to contending for and possibly winning a championship.
For more information, contact the Stafford Motor Speedway track office at 860-684-2783 or visit us on the web at www.staffordspeedway.com.
Sources: Scott Running/Stafford Motor Speedway PR